CBSA facing major backlog

Delays trouble for people who need documentation to support residency claims

OTTAWA— Canada’s border guards are struggling under a backlog of federal access to information requests — some dating to 2016 — and are asking requesters to consider abandoning old submissions.

The Canada Border Services Agency says an increased number of requests under the federal access to information system, coupled with a “limited number of staff” to process those requests, led to the backlog.

That could mean trouble for those who need CBSA documents to support residency claims or citizenship applications, who accounted for 45 per cent of all access to information requests to the agency in 2016-2017.

“People are not asking for this information on a lark. They need it,” said Chantal Desloges, an immigration and refugee lawyer. “Their future next steps are contingent on getting this information, so it holds everybody back.”

The Access to Information Act allows Canadian citizens or permanent residents to request government documents for a $5 fee. The system is used by citizens, businesses, researchers and journalists to pry loose government information that would otherwise be kept secret.

But almost half of requests to the CBSA in 2016-17 were for Traveller History Records, used by immigrants to support residency claims or make an application for citizenship.

Desloges said the traveller records are required by applicants to ensure they fill out their last five years of travel history accurately as any minor mistake or omission could put applicants in a bureaucratic “limbo.”

“The ramifications if the person makes a mistake, even if it’s an innocent error like they went on a shopping trip to Buffalo for one day and forgot . . . it can trigger off this whole series of investigations, because then (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada) doesn’t know if they’re actually lying about anything or if they accidentally left it out.”

The Star has made several requests to CBSA, including briefing notes for Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale dating to June 2016.

Departmental figures state the number of access requests has shot up from 3,147 in 2012-13 to 6,265 in 2016-17. In that year, the CBSA processed more than 6,300 requests but still had a backlog of almost 1,500.

In emails sent to requesters recently, the CBSA asked if the backlogged requests were still of interest. The agency said if a response was not received in 30 days, they would consider the request abandoned.

In a statement to the Star, the agency insisted nobody is being asked to abandon their requests. Instead, the agency is simply confirming requesters are interested in the information.

“The CBSA re-allocated an additional $714,000 in 2017-18 to deal with the backlog of access to information requests,” wrote CBSA spokesperson Barre Campbell in an email. “The additional funding has allowed the ATIP division to augment its resources to ensure more timely responses to both requests and to complaints, as well as reduce the inventory of late files.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pledged in 2015 to modernize the access to information system, which had not been substantially updated since it was introduced in the 1980s.

The Liberal reforms, released last June by Treasury Board president Scott Brison, fell short of advocates’ expectations. Information commissioner Suzanne Legault called it a “regression” in Canadians’ access rights and recommended significant changes. The reforms are before the Senate for further study.

A spokesperson for Goodale noted the CBSA has consistently had one of the heaviest access to information workloads over the last five years, and has recently made progress on their backlogged files.

“Departments may verify with requesters if they wish to pursue their requests for a variety of reasons, but it does not release them from their obligations under the (Access to Information Act),” Scott Bardsley wrote in an email.